Adrienne Mitford looked the part. Green track jacket. Compression pants. Running shoes. She looked like everyone else Monday, among the fast, the slow, the occasional and the committed.

She was a runner. And to Mitford, on a day that saw more than 100 runners of all backgrounds join her for a special gathering along the Harvey Taylor Bridge in Harrisburg, that point was finally driven home.

"I never really have considered myself a runner -- even though I did run five half marathons last year. I'm a slow runner," said Mitford, the Executive Director of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation in Harrisburg. "When it comes to running and you're slow, you ask yourself, 'Are you a runner or a jogger?' After this event and how Facebook and Twitter came to life, I'm proud to say I'm a runner now."

Runners gathered on State Street before the Boston Strong Harrisburg event on Monday. Cory Mull

Mitford led the Boston Strong Harrisburg movement in this region. She first heard of the cause through Twitter, through a channel she followed with the hash tag #runchat.

A group out of San Francisco that operates a blog called Pavementrunner.com built the event organically. By Monday, more than 120 cities were involved. Mitford didn't want to miss out.

This was a run, she said, that would be symbolic of the way the running community would hold together in a time of need. The event supported those victimized during the Boston Marathon. Donations were encouraged, though not required.

Harrisburg, Lancaster and York all hosted runs to benefit the Boston Marathon -- though Lancaster worked through a cause titled, "Runners United to Remember" and held their run on Sunday.

It was thought that counted.

More than 100 participants -- including myself -- wearing yellow and blue ran across the Harvey Taylor Bridge in honor of those affected at the Boston Marathon on April 15. There were runners of all ages, abilities and ties to the sport.

There were even a few who ran Boston, including Jeffrey Rixe, a Medical Student at the Hershey Medical Center who finished the marathon in 2 hours, 58 minutes and 25 seconds. He was in the shower when the explosion occurred on Boylston Street.

He came to the event on Monday with his fiancé to support the cause.

"It came full circle today," said Rixe, who lives in Hershey. "The who and the why are questions everyone wanted answered. And now that we have closure on at least the who, it's just been heartwarming to see the support. This is a great event."

It took just days to put the run together. Aided in part by a surge of social media and regional exposure, more than 80 participants signed up on Facebook. Mitford also called The Inside Track, a local running store, Absolute Wellness and Pretzel City Sports, a timing company based out of Reading.

There were an estimated 100 participants on Monday.

"It's cool," said Sam Baum, a Boston Marathon finisher from Wellsville who drove 30 minutes to Harrisburg to take part in the event.

Baum regularly runs the historic Front Street belt on weekends. But Monday's attendance surprised him. He never thought this many people would be brought together for a cause such as this.

"Well, not at once at least," he said.

Neither did Mitford. When she first created the event, she wasn't quite sure who would follow. She thought she would be running the bridge with a few friends.

Instead, many more followed.

"I think the running community has always been strong," Mitford said. "And I think that numbers that came out today on a moment's notice show that. It is unfortunate that it takes a horrific event like this to pull people together, but I'm hopeful we can continue the effort."

How to Donate:

While donations were not collected at the run Monday, those who are interested can check out this organizations.